Seals are used in aircraft engines to isolate a fluid from one or more areas/regions of the engine. For example, seals are used to control various characteristics (e.g., temperature, pressure) within the areas/regions of the engine and can be useful to ensure proper/efficient engine operation and stability.
High pressure applications of floating, non-contact seals require beams with more torsional stiffness to resist shoe twisting with pressure loads. Typically, shoe aerodynamic design parameters do not enable the shoe to be sized beyond a given dimension due to (radial) force balance requirements/constraints. Still further, constraints associated with the natural frequency of the shoe may limit the shoe size or require stiffer beams without increasing stress.